Worn shift forks

[Morvo]

Hi,

I have just stripped down my 1995 KX250 since having a shifting problem and I was wondering if someone could help me with diagnosing what the problem is.

My mate and I thought it would be a broken/bent shift fork but they look ok to me but I can't be too sure. Has anyone got a picture of a good shift fork and a faulty one? They are £35 each from our local Kawasaki dealership so I don't really want to spend money on something that potentially won't fix our problem.

I also noticed on the strip down that one of the dowel pins on the crankcases was not in situe, one was but the one nearest to the gearbox wasn't, would this cause a problem if the cases 'slipped' slightly? I'm guessing it would. Any help is much appreciated, cheers!

Dan

 

[Ol'89r]

Dan.

I don't have a picture but you can visually inspect the forks for wear. Look at both sides of the forks where they ride on the gear. There should be even wear on both sides, top and bottom. If there are wear patterns on the top of the fork and not on the bottom or visa-versa, the fork is bent and should be replaced. The hard chrome on the fork should be smooth and shiny and consistent from side to side.

If the manual shows two dowel pins in the cases, be sure to use two when you put the cases back together. That could be part of your problem if the cases are slightly mis-aligned.

 

[Morvo]

Thanks for your reply Ol. The forks do look evenly worn and smooth on either side, one on the other hand does seem slightly different, it looks like it may have been catching on something, whether this is down to the case not having the dowel pin installed I do not know. Is it advisable to replace one shift fork and not the others?

Dan

 

[whenfoxforks-ruled]

If you have the shop manual it will give you the width of the fork,measure it,measure the gear it drives also. The school I went to taught me not to mate old with new,it gets to be some tough decisions! Most of the time if the fork shows a wear pattern it is shot.

 

[Morvo]

Well, after a long time of galabanting around and contemplating spending £XXX amount of money on our bike we finally bit the bullet and ordered the parts that we think were causing our shifting problems. It was actually cheaper to order and have the parts shipped from Bike Bandit in the USA to the UK than what is was to buy them direct from our Kawasaki dealer! After a few niggles, cursing, beating tools etc... the engine was complete and ready to go...SUCCESS!!! Every gear can be engaged perfectly, she's shifting like a winner! Got a couple of problems though, nothing major but I will ask one of them in another thread, we do have a small oil leak from the right hand crankcase cover, but that's easy to pull off and apply some gasket sealant. Thanks for your help! :)